Coast to Coast

Last week was spent traveling coast to coast. Wednesday I flew to Jacksonville, FL then drove to Amelia Island for a meeting through Friday. We stayed at the Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island..........I know, la-tee-da. :) That was my first time staying at a Ritz, I must say it is a little too frou-frou for me. I will stick to my first love, the Marriott. :) However, the service is amazing, everyone calling you by name and willing to help or provide for you at the drop of a hat. It was a great experience and the meeting was a success. Even though it was cloudy except when we were in meetings I did manage to get picture of the pool.

Friday afternoon I flew to San Francisco, CA, then had a two-hour drive to Monterey. Mark was actually able to fly and meet me in San Fran. We drove up a curvy mountain, with for some reason a 60 mph speed limit. I have never driven a more curvy street, it was even worse than Lombard Street in San Fran. It was pitch black and we had no idea what we would wake up to in the morning. Monterey was beautiful! The room looked over the golf course and the weather was perfect. They say it is pretty temperate throughout the year, never getting below 50 or above 85. Now that's my kind of weather. The reason for this trip is that I was invited to a FAM trip and the Great Wine Escape Weekend. The Hyatt Regency hosted this event and gave me an opportunity as a planner to see the city and all the hotel had to offer. Saturday we had breakfast with the group and then toured the Hyatt Regency. We spent the afternoon touring the vineyards and tasting local wine. We finished off the day with a very classy dinner. The kind with five courses, one tiny serving each, that probably cost $300 per plate. All Mark wanted to do was order pizza. :) I thought everything was very good. We met two great couples, Paul and Amy and Kent and Kim. We had such a great time, I wish we were able to spend more time with them. Sunday we finished with breakfast and drove through Monterey. We were so disappointed that it was raining. We thought we would run out of it and it just kept following us. :( We then drove to San Francisco so Mark could see the Golden Gate Bridge. I felt like I had been gone forever. I am so glad to be home. The flight was rough, flying from Charlotte (I had to connect here both flights) to San Fran is about a six hour flight. I have a very hard time entertaining myself for that long. However, it was a very nice long weekend. I just love traveling and especially with my soon-to-be hubby. But now I'm home...........at least for a couple of weeks.

Fun Fact: It takes 600 grapes to make one bottle of wine.

MR for Mark Rogers. Who knew he was a wine maker?

Cannery Row
We just could not get away from the rain. I was soaked and cold.

Next time we are staying at this Bed and Breakfast. It looks like a doll house.

Riding the cable cars

Lombard Street - the crookedest street

Alcatraz